No. 3: Every standout pitch has this
The magic of Red Bull; Pepsi's marketing cautionary tale in the Philippines; and Nigeria's 'Fantastic Man' William Onyeabor
I’m obsessed with “weirdos.”
This past week, I've been fascinated with people & companies who take an unconventional, or weird, approach in their work — and succeed for it.
Take the origins of Red Bull.
When Red Bull conducted its first consumer tests, the results were cringeworthy.
After tasting the energy drink, one person angrily responded: “I wouldn’t drink this piss if you paid me to.”
Fast forward thirty years. Red Bull sells 7.5bn cans per year (one for each person in the world).
Red Bull has become an iconic brand, known for being fun and irreverent.
The success of Red Bull - a product that people initially hated - was a result of some damn good marketing, or magic as Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy describes it.
Creativity and counter intuitive thinking are powerful, and I'd argue untapped, forces in business, especially in storytelling, brand building, and shaping ideas that matter.
Insight 🤓
Even with my 2+ years experience as a publicist, I'm always looking to improve my pitches. A good pitch is more art than science.
So I was fascinated when a veteran publicist gave me this tip:
Don't waste your word count on explaining the story you're pitching. The journalist, who could be a grizzled reporter with decades of experience, already knows the sector inside and out.
Save your pitch for what makes the story, and your source, surprising.
When I'm brainstorming ideas for content with clients, I always ask them — what do people get wrong or misunderstand about your industry? It's a handy prism for discovering a surprising nugget that is fodder for a strong pitch.
Bonus: Introduce an element of surprise in the subject header so they’ll be curious to open up your email.
Now never sacrifice clarity for cleverness. A subject header that is super vague or nonsensical will go swiftly to the junk folder. You don't want to confuse the journalist you're pitching.
Look at this pitch I wrote for a chocolate company:
It’s clear with a dash of contrariness & surprise.
Bottom line: Use surprise in your pitch to make it standout and grab a journalist’s attention.
News 📰
Africa’s brewing nut crisis - Yes, the headline verges on clickbait. But this article illustrates the unexpected ripple effect of Coronavirus on the global economy - including on Africa's nut trade. From shuttered pubs to airlines, fewer people are snacking on cashews, almonds, and walnuts. Collapsing demand hurts Africa economies which still depend on commodity exports. Cashews are a huge source of FX for Guinea Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire, and Tanzania.
Chinese phones & malware - Not only does this Buzzfeed piece have great reporting, it also voiced the thorny existential problem of African tech: “If you have no disposable income, you're basically left with people preying on your data…The problem we have here is that we don't have a rational business model for a digital society.”
Pepsi’s disastrous contest in the Philippines - In the early 90s, a ham-fisted Pepsi promotion in the Philippines turned deadly. It’s a cautionary tale to using promotions to market products. Like all gambling, there's a thin line between entertainment and exploitation of people trying to claw their way out of poverty. [This is why I'd never do PR for a betting company in SSA.]
Resource ✏️
The Showrunner Sessions - I'm bullish on long-form content creation for brands; this course looks brilliant for creating narrative podcasts. I winced when I saw the price tag so I'll settle following Jay's Twitter for his superb audio storytelling tips. I would definitely invest in this.
I have to close with one more recommendation.
Speaking of eccentrics, the Vice documentary “Fantastic Man” on the enigmatic Nigerian musician William Onyeabor is fabulous. He was truly avant-garde - his music is now played at electronic festivals all over the world.
William Onyeabor has famous fans like David Byrne and Damon Albarn but he voluntarily abandoned music to become a priest in Enugu.
Wishing you all a productive and creative week!
Say hi on Twitter — I'd love to hear from you.
Until Next Time,
Victoria
Victoria Crandall | African Startups | Comms & PR Strategist | Proud Dog-Mom of Gus | Lagos 🇳🇬